1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to screen printing and stenciling and, more specifically, to screen printing and stencil articles, apparatus and methods.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Silk-screen printing or serigraphy is a well-known ancient art involving a stencil method of printing a design through a piece of silk or other fine cloth on which parts of the design not to be printed have been stopped out by an impermeable film.
Considerable progress has been realized in this art with the availability and use of photosensitive emulsions for selectively stopping areas of the screen upon photographic exposure and development. A further important step in the direction of a more general use of this enjoyable meaningful and useful art came about with the provision and availability of direct photo emulsions, typically of the diazo type, where the photographic development upon exposure is conveniently reduced for the user to a washout under subdued light, whereby the emulsion will be removed from non-stopped areas of the screen.
Despite these recent advances, the state of the art still fails to provide artists and amateurs alike with a convenient tool and technique to make full use of the artistic, entertainment, recreational and commercial potentials of silk screening or serigraphy.
Rather, a typical technique, even with the most advanced materials, is to provide a wooden support filled with foam rubber, to place the screen with photosensitive emulsion on that support and foam rubber pad, to cover the screen with a sheet of transparent glass and with a sheet of an opaque substance to prevent premature exposure. A design may then be provided on the glass plate and the photosensitive emulsion may then be exposed through the design. Upon photographic exposure and development, areas corresponding to the provided design will be selectively stopped and a paint or dye material may be squeezed through the open screen meshes in the non-stopped areas.
It is thus seen that the state of the art is still of a makeshift nature, especially in the area of providing the desired image pattern and preparing the stencil by photographic exposure.